Washington D.C. February 4, 2015--Bahraini authorities revoked the nationality of at least four journalists among a total of 72 citizens, after accusing them under article 10 of the country's citizenship act of supporting terrorism, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported.

More than 200 journalists are imprisoned for their work for the third consecutive year, reflecting a global surge in authoritarianism. China is the world’s worst jailer of journalists in 2014. A CPJ special report by Shazdeh Omari

Today, CPJ joined 10 local and international organizations in sending an open letter calling on King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and the Bahraini government to release photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan and dismiss all charges against him. The letter calls on the government to fulfill Bahrain's obligations under international law and its commitments under the 2012 Universal Periodic Review by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

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New York, August 22, 2014 -- The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the Bahrain High Court of Appeals to overturn the baseless conviction of freelance photojournalist Ahmed Humaidan. The court is expected to rule on Humaidan's appeal on August 25, according to news reports.

On World Press Freedom Day, CPJ calls for the release of all jailed journalists

By Shazdeh Omari/CPJ News Editor

New York, April 29, 2014—Uzbek editor Muhammad Bekjanov has been in jail for 15 years, one of the longest imprisonments of journalists worldwide. Prominent Iranian journalist Siamak Ghaderi was imprisoned in 2010 and has been beaten and whipped in custody. Vietnamese blogger Nguyen Van Hai, serving a 12-year jail term, could barely walk or talk during a prison visit in July 2013, his family said.

New York and Paris, April 3, 2014--The Committee to Protect
Journalists (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have launched a joint
social media campaign calling on the Bahraini government to allow journalists
to work freely during the Formula One Grand Prix race in Bahrain on April 6, 2014.
Using the social media tool Thunderclap,
the "Bahrain Racing in Circles" campaign participants will call for press
freedom in Bahrain at the exact start of the Formula One race. As of April 3,
the campaign had gained a potential audience of nearly 3 million people, more
than twice the population of Bahrain.

New York, March 26, 2014--Today's conviction of freelance
photographer Ahmed Humaidan is an attempt by Bahraini authorities to censor
independent and dissident voices in the lead-up to the Formula One race in
April, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Humaidan, who has been
imprisoned since December 2012, was sentenced to 10 years in jail, according to
news reports.

Thursday, the official Bahrain News Agency announced the "final 30-day
countdown [to] the Formula One extravaganza" to take place the first week of
April. Every year the race acts as a lightning rod for criticism of the
Bahraini government, which seeks to use high-profile international events like
the F1 to gloss over human rights violations in the country.

Three years ago, hundreds of thousands of Bahrainis
descended to the streets to demand change. A harsh government crackdown and the
turn to violence by some protesters have since dampened the hope lit on
February 14, 2011. In this context, we asked Bahrainis and Bahrain observers on
Twitter how they think the status of press freedom has changed in the country.
We know what we think: The Bahraini government has fallen terribly short of its
own rhetoric of reform. But we wanted to hear directly from those who work and
live in Bahrain every day.

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Despite King Hamad’s praise for the press as the “cornerstone of human rights and a mirror of our fledgling democracy,” the Bahraini government continued to crack down on anyone challenging the official narrative. Journalists covering opposition protests were harassed, detained, and deported, while some were attacked by opposition protesters who considered them biased. The government arrested at least threebloggers and photographers in the lead-up to a major opposition protest on August 14. A court upheld the acquittal of a policewoman accused of torturing a journalist in 2011. Authorities continued to clamp down on online expression by blockingwebsites, infiltrating social media accounts,prosecutingcitizens who insulted officials, and considering restrictions on Internet-based telecommunications services. Bahraini blogger Ali Abdel Imam, convicted on anti-state charges, was forced to flee into exile after hiding for two years from Bahraini authorities.